What we have here is a failure to (Admin) communicate.

[madlights]

andrys said:

nooutlet, thanks again for your personal efforts here.

You shouldn't have to clock-out if Slug and Emily care about their business.
It's because you obviously care that some of us have hope.

I'll second that, but andrys said it so well I don't think it needs seconded.

[nooutlet]

Right, well maybe I don't HAVE to clock out while I respond to you guys here on the forums, but since it hasn't been discussed whether it's worthwhile in his mind or not, I'm doing it anyway so as not to take his acceptance for granted.
I really think that the time I trade to PBase should be used to do what I'm specializing in. If slug wanted to hire someone to use a message board, he wouldn't have looked for programmers.

[srijith]

If slug wanted to hire someone to use a message board, he wouldn't have looked for programmers.

I completely agree. All the more reason to thank you for doing this. Maybe you could push the point across to Slug (if he didn't know already) that PBase would really really do with a dedicated support person.

[teleburst]

If slug wanted to hire someone to use a message board, he wouldn't have looked for programmers.

I completely agree. All the more reason to thank you for doing this. Maybe you could push the point across to Slug (if he didn't know already) that PBase would really really do with a dedicated support person.

This isn't as much a response to this particular quote but just a not-so-quick comment from someone who has been a PBase supporter since Dec. 2002 and who hasn't read a lick of any other part of the forum (just this thread).

While I understand the need for communication and "structure", I really hope that PBase stays a small "family-run" sort of operation. The thing that I fear the most is that it will go the way of YouTube, Flickr, DP Review, et. al. While I'm not saying that the aformentioned units have (or will) go to hell in a handbasket, I sort of like the idea of a benevolent dictatorship when it comes to a service like this that still maintains the vision of the originators, even if it sacrifices a little of the "new bells and whistles/change for change sake" thing that is so prevalent on the net. I would like to think that the momentum of the service provides a significant enough income that the founders aren't tempted to sell to some monolith for a few million bucks. I like the fact that we have been given more space periodically without it being expected (or in the case of a passive user like myself) even notified before the fact. I like the lack of slickness in the interface and for some perverse reason, I like the fact that the powers-that-be are fairly insulated from the give-and-take of the forum. I also like the resistance to looking for deep pockets to "take over the operation but nothing will change except for the best and my bank account". The temptation must be there and I won't be surprised if such a news release shows up as soon as my post does <chuckle>.

Yes, I've been on the DPReview forum when people were bitching about problems with PBase a couple of years ago. Yes, I had some thumbnails and some images disappear at that time but they all came back and I just rode it out. I've never had any exif issues that I know of (although I do access the function occasionally). Of course, I'm just a guy who uses PBase mostly as a way to share photos with others or link photos to other forums and I'm not really looking at it as much more of a storage solution of web-friendly images. In other words, I'm not all that interested in using it as an enterprise solution (if I were to go that route, I'd use something like SmugMug or CafePress or ideally simply set my own thing up so that I could assure the quality of my product). So, in many ways, I'm probably as close to the "average" user as anyone. I'm certainly not a power user, and my viewpoint comes from that angle (just by using this forum, I've actually inched a little closer than I'd like to being such a user <chuckle>). I'm not as much of a Luddite as I sound, but I just wanted to say that I like the affordability of the service and the fact that I'm getting pretty much what I pay for (less than $2 a month for everything that PBase offers seems like a good deal to me). Improve the site? Sure, why not? Improve it to the point where it gets gobbled up? Naaaaah.

Don't know if I've made any sense here, but just wanted to muddy the waters a little...

[nooutlet]

I don't see Slug selling out to a large internet-based company anytime soon.
I'm more concerned with how you don't have a username. What's going on there?

[teleburst]

I don't see Slug selling out to a large internet-based company anytime soon.
I'm more concerned with how you don't have a username. What's going on there?

I dunno. I came on to the forum and added a reply. I was already logged in to PBase and wasn't prompted to log in to the forum itself. So, who knows? Maybe you need to check how the forum is set up. BTW, my logout links are still up, both in the forum itself and in the toolbar at the top, so I have to assume that my member name is keyed to whatever I post here. I have my email address set for private and I looked in the FAQ that says that there's a place in the profile to set the username private as well (not displayed) but I've never set it that way, nor could I find anything in the profile that allows a change. <shrug>

I'm glad that you don't see Slug selling out anytime soon. Understand that I wasn't really worried about it, that my comments were more a reflection of what I LIKE about PBase, not a concern about whether PBase is under any consideration for such a thing. The "fear" comment was sort of in response to the comments in this thread, not a general unease.

[teleburst]

I don't see Slug selling out to a large internet-based company anytime soon.
I'm more concerned with how you don't have a username. What's going on there?

Any idea why my username might not be showing up in my posts? Anything I should look for specifically (in my profile or my login procedure maybe?)

[nooutlet]

No. I have no idea why that's happening. What is your username? I can ask slug to look into it cause it's kind of interesting.

[srijith]

Reminds me of Hollow Man

[teleburst]

No. I have no idea why that's happening. What is your username? I can ask slug to look into it cause it's kind of interesting.

Let's see if this works.

I found the edit button on my profile (I actually haven't had to touch this area in 5 years) and see that I only filled out the private area. It's kind of weird that there are two areas to fill out. Most places usually only have you fill out one set of info and allow you to simply toggle visibility on and off. So I probably didn't notice that you have to fill out both sets of fields.

So, I'm assuming that this will work. If it doesn't, I'll be back <chuckle>

[arjunrc]

Oh No!
You don't fool me!
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has come to PBase!
Auugh.

[nooutlet]

Slug fixed it.

[offtheradar]

Sorry, I couldn't help but point this out. In a thread addressing the long standing complaints users have about getting known issues fixed (or even responded to), someone stumbles in here with a problem they don't even know they have until you bring it up, then it's fixed within a few days because you asked slug? For the sake of those who do care about properly displayed exif info (or some of the other ongoing complaints), maybe you could pretend to find it as equally interesting and bring it up with slug?

Posted: 19 Jan 2008 06:27 pm

I'm more concerned with how you don't have a username. What's going on there?

Posted: 19 Jan 2008 07:16 pm

I dunno.

Posted: 20 Jan 2008 05:59 pm

Any idea why my username might not be showing up in my posts?

Posted: 22 Jan 2008 02:25 am

I can ask slug to look into it cause it's kind of interesting.

Posted: 22 Jan 2008 07:53 pm

Slug fixed it.

I'm a fan of pbase and have historically always gone to bat in their defense when asking people for patience and to realize the value here and what pbase is intended for. Personally, I don't care if the exif info displays at all. As long as my pics show up, i'm a happy camper and am willing to put up with a little downtime here and there because this is only a hobby for me. Understandably, those using pbase for business purposes have different reasons for moving if the site is unreliable or unresponsive to their needs.

The example posted above must come as a somewhat bitter pill to swallow for those who have been waiting months or years for the promises of fixes to be fulfilled. On one hand, it's great someone is concerned with a known problem and gets it fixed. On the other, they'd have to be feeling like their concerns aren't nearly as important. I think the majority only wants their concerns of known problems to be addressed and taken as seriously as teleburst's was. Even if a problem isn't fixed and isn't scheduled for being fixed in the near future, telling the angry villagers something definitive would most likely get them to put away their pitchforks.

It's sort of a lame analogy, but I see it as this. In reading this thread, I get the idea the programmers are working on something BIG, reallly BIG (the 'phase two' comment). If my wife was the sort of person who wanted me to give her a rose every now and then, what good does it do me to end up losing her because I'm trying to grow a whole field of roses to give her, but never just give her what she asked for: a single rose.

When I read the complaints, i don't see pbasers asking for HUGE improvements. Just an occasional small fix and the feeling they aren't being ignored. How many people will pbase lose, or will be steered away by disgruntled ex-members, and never see the huge improvements to come? It's like trying to win the war without thinking the battles (or soldiers) are important isn't it?

nooutlet, kudos to you for even facing the issues you aren't responsible for creating. Tough crowd here. Most of them just want to be able to brag about the site they use I think. Right now, anytime I mention pbase to someone I always have to add the footnote about sometimes being down and don't expect any replies to email. I wish I didn't have to do that.

[nooutlet]

That's a good point and an irony I had overlooked. The analogies were also quite appropriate.

The difference here is that figuring out how to automate the decoding of EXIF data is a much more involved task than looking up the specific problem with teleburst's forum account. The former requires research, programming, testing, potential debugging and more testing, etc. and then multi-server installation of the new code. The latter requires a few quick queries on the database. Right now, I'm not sure where the EXIF data is being (incorrectly) decoded. Maybe I'll look into that tomorrow while I continue my pursuit of making an updated version of this forum.

NoOutlet

[arjunrc]

It's sort of a lame analogy, but I see it as this. In reading this thread, I get the idea the programmers are working on something BIG, reallly BIG (the 'phase two' comment). If my wife was the sort of person who wanted me to give her a rose every now and then, what good does it do me to end up losing her because I'm trying to grow a whole field of roses to give her, but never just give her what she asked for: a single rose.

Wow. Probably the most succint post I have read in a long time. Puts several things into perspective.